Leading TM law firms and lawyers recognised in new UK rankings

WIPR Rankings has published its 2025 UK Trademark Rankings, which provide a comprehensive guide to the best sources of brand-related legal advice in the country.

The top UK law firms and practitioners have been recognised in WIPR’s UK Trademarks Rankings 2025.

In its second year running, WIPR’s UK Trademarks Rankings has been compiled following months of research and conversations with leading industry experts, as well as client referees.

The firms on this year’s list have secured some significant representations over the past year, for clients such as consumer products giant Colgate-Palmolive (Brandsmiths), premier league football club Tottenham Hotspur (Wiggin), and US thrash metal band Megadeth (Charles Russell Speechlys).

They are also instructed to act for well-loved British brands such as Paddington Bear (Edwin Coe), the producer of The Great British Bake Off (Lee & Thompson) and The Scout Association (Forresters).

These clients and others turn to the firms and lawyers in this year’s Rankings for the quality of their advice across the full spectrum of trademark work, from filing and prosecution to litigation in the UK’s highest court.

The listing reflects the firms’ and individuals’ particular strengths in different areas, and is structured into Non-Contentious and Contentious categories. This provides a comprehensive guide for counsel looking for a UK trademark partner with specialisms in a certain area.

Collaborative approach

Firms and lawyers ranked in the Non-Contentious category are typically experts in trademark filing, prosecution, strategy, and portfolio management, while those in the Contentious list are skilled in litigation, dispute resolution, and enforcement.

Mishcon de Reya and Wiggin, rated as ‘Outstanding’ in both categories, are two examples of firms that are strong across the board. Mishcon  operates its contentious and non-contentious practices as one team to offer value-led IP strategies to clients, prompting one senior in-house counsel to describe the firm as “in the premier league for anything IP-related”.

The increasing convergence of roles between trademark attorneys and solicitors continues to be a theme in the 2025 Rankings. Dual-qualified practitioners, such as those found at top-tier firm Appleyard Lees, provide clients with valuable insight from across the complete trademark lifecycle.

Newly launched boutiques versus century-old firms

This year’s Trademark Rankings comprise a mix of specialist IP boutiques, traditional law firms, and attorney firms, which are rated as ‘Notable’, ‘Recommended’, ‘Highly Recommended’ or ‘Outstanding’.

Firms such as CMS, one of the largest UK law firms by lawyer count, and Taylor Wessing—which has an international filing practice managing more than 75,000 live trademarks—offer expansive resources to clients.

However, some of the smaller firms are demonstrating that they are more than capable of competing with larger, more established outfits in the courts and registry offices.

Founded in 2024 by two former IP heads at Foot Anstey, Ionic Legal has already become known for its expertise in anti-counterfeiting and IP litigation, often going head-to-head with large national and international firms on the other side of its matters and winning clients who previously instructed these bigger competitors.

Another relatively new firm, Open Plan Law, has built up a strong US referral network and is equipped—unusually for a small firm—to handle contentious matters, including cases at the Intellectual Enterprise Court (IPEC) and High Court.

A year of change

Firms also stood out for their involvement in some of the highest-profile matters over the past year that helped to reshape the legal landscape for trademarks in the UK. Mishcon represented Sky in its highly publicised clash with Skykick, as well as Thom Browne in the luxury fashion designer’s ongoing trademark dispute with Adidas, which concluded in November 2024.

The ruling in the former case clarified “bad faith” in UK trademark law, with experts forecasting tighter scrutiny of trademark fillings—particularly those covering a broad scope of goods and services. Meanwhile, Thom Browne v Adidas offered up a reminder that even apparently well-established trademarks can be vulnerable to invalidation or revocation.

As well as disputes that shook up the UK trademark landscape last year, some of the country’s leading lawyers made significant moves between firms. Widely acclaimed solicitor advocate David Stone—ranked as ‘Outstanding’ this year—departed A&O Shearman to join White & Case, and Joel McDonald (‘Recommended’) swapped Stobbs IP for Addleshaw Goddard along with former colleague Geoff Steward.

‘Recommended’ practitioners Rosie Burbidge and Aaron Wood also made notable career changes, joining Howard Kennedy and Novagraaf from Gunnercooke and Brandsmiths, respectively.

See the full WIPR UK Trademark Rankings 2025.

More information on WIPR Rankings including the research schedule for 2025 can be found here.

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